Appalachian Trail SOBO Day 85 – Autumnal vibes in Virginia
19th October 2023
Campsite (1508.2) - Bailey Gap Shelter (1537.8)
Daily miles: 29.6
Total miles: 1547.1
We had a big day planned so alarms went off at 5:30am. It was another fairly warm night so I slept well but I didn’t want to get up. I felt tired.
Packed up and was on my way at 06:40am, hiking by headlamp until the sun came out around 07:15am. The day was split into 3 parts today, defined by going uphill and then downhill. So 3 climbs and 2 places to get water.
One of the worst bear hangs, even I could reach up and touch it!
The first part of the day was uphill and it was really beautiful, at the top was a ridge walk with a lot of slanted slab rock which I thought the whole time how pleased I was it wasn’t raining; that would have been rough. As it was it was sunny and pretty with some nice views over the colour changing forest.
Good morning!
Autumn doing its thing
Love a bit of slab rock walking when it isn’t raining
I caught up to Lemonhope on the way down and we walked and chatted for a while. Then May Queen caught up to us and walked with us, through the fields, past the cows, past the giant old oak tree and to the water source. 11 miles into the day. And it was already 11:50am. We weren’t making good time today despite the nice trail! I just felt so tired, my whole body was lacking energy. I was struggling to go just over 2 miles an hour.
Cal was already at the water and Toe arrived just as I was packing up to leave after eating a bit of lunch. I left sometime before 12:30pm
Lots of fields today
Where there are fields there are cows
The next part of the trail was so nice. It was out of the trees and through fields and the colours of the trees were popping and there was a cool old barn and fields with all these crazy lines in. I crawled up the next climb to Kelly Knob and May Queen caught up to me. She said she was feeling good so she might push on past the shelter (which was a 29.6 day) to the road with the water source (to make it just over 32 miles). I didn’t think I had it in me.
All the views were so nice today
Nice wide trail
Creepy old barn
Not sure what these crazy lines are for?
Those colours though
Look up
I pushed on and descended the other side down to the last water source before the shelter, and the shelter we planned to stay at is dry. So I guzzled about 3 quarters of a litre then carried out about a litre and a half. It didn’t actually feel that heavy.
Cal arrived and got his mat out and settled down for a break but we still had 9 miles to the shelter and it was 4:30pm already so I couldn’t hang around.
I set off up the next climb, passed a shelter which looked very inviting, and climbed up into the forest. It was an alright climb until the last mile which was pretty steep and I was going super slow. On the ridge I caught up to May Queen who was stopped to eat some mashed potatoes and I was getting a little cold so stopped to put on my fleece.
A stroll through the forest
Water stop
Looks at the reds
Really wanted to stop here but pushed on
I walked on and stopped to pee just before it got too dark so May Queen overtook me. The trail was quite overgrown and there were lots of plants over the trail. There was a white blaze to the left which I nearly missed. I got down to the road and back into the forest the other side and it got dark. Headlamp out at 7pm.
The next 3.6 miles took 1.5 hours which was actually quicker than I thought it had been. The first part was annoying because it was also overgrown but it was a bit like Russian roulette as to whether one of the overgrown tendrils would have thorns on and you’d get scratched up. Then it just got worse as the trail became super rocky and bouldery and there were lots of blowdowns. My pace felt like it reduced drastically. One because I didn’t want to fall and break a leg or arm, and two because I was worried about losing the trail!
There were 2 times that I had to get the map out and check if I was still on trail because it was hard to see. Every time I saw a white blaze on a tree I would do a little celebration dance in my head because that meant I wasn’t lost.
The rocks didn’t let up and I wondered where May Queen was. I thought she was probably finding the rocks as challenging as I was and would stop at the shelter, but only if the shelter was empty. If there were people there she might carry on and do the extra 1.5 miles. I wondered what I should do? I really didn’t want to go any further. Getting to the shelter would be enough for me. But what if May Queen wasn’t there? What if there were people there? Would I stay or would I carry on?
I tried my best to not look at the map too often to check how far I had left but when I dd look I was pleasantly surprised to see I only had 0.4 to go, but it was what can only be described as a slog, and my feet took the brunt of it.
Nearing the shelter I saw a light. It was May Queen and she was alone and she wanted to stay there. All very good news! She felt very tired too and when I got there at about 8:35pm (before 9 which I was happy about) I set up my stuff with the goal of lying down as quickly as possible. I didn’t bother eating dinner because I was too tired. It was crazy warm in the last 4 miles too. I was hot when I arrived and changing into my sleep clothes wasn’t a problem because it wasn’t cold.
Now I’m lying down writing this and my legs have got a right throb on.
Lemonhope showed up at 9:30pm. He said he completely “bonked” about an hour ago. They all talk about this. Bonking. (Always funny because it means something else in the UK). They have to stop and eat something because they feel they can’t carry on without it. I don’t think I’ve ever felt like that. I just carry on and feel hungry.
Lemonhope saw Cal 0.3 miles back and he had set up to cowboy camp on the side of the trail because his headlamp died. I would have used my phone for 0.3! I definitely wouldn’t have camped on the side of the trail alone. He also said he thought Toe wouldn’t make it, so she is probably camped alone on the side of the trail somewhere too. She was struggling with her headlamp last night because it’s a cheap one to replace the one she lost and she said she can’t see very well with it. It also may have run out of battery.
I’m pleased I made it here. I’m not keen on night hiking, but it’s not that bad. I did psyche myself out a little for a few minutes, but it’s not about creatures or anything it’s more about the fear of getting lost and losing the trail.
The trail was really beautiful today and I enjoyed it, despite the tiredness. But I didn’t enjoy the rocks in the dark one bit.
